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The Bridger Coal Company of Point of Rocks, Wyoming (Permit No. 338) has applied for Area and Phase 1 bond release from the Land Quality Division of the Department of Environmental Quality for the State of Wyoming. This permit was originally approved on May 22, 1975. The coal mining permit area is located in: T20N, R100W and R101W; T21N, R100W and R101W and T22N, R100W and R101W, Sweetwater County, Wyoming. The area is approximately 7 miles NE of Point of Rocks, Wyoming. This area can be found on the Ten Mile Rim, Black Rock South, Bitter Creek NW, and Point of Rocks USGS quadrangle map(s). The parcels to be released from Area bond are in Sections 7, 18, 20, and 21 in T21N, R100W. Phase 1 parcels to be released from bond are in Sections 7, 18, and 22 in T21N, R100W. This bond release request includes 99.97 acres of Category III, IV, and V lands that qualify for Area bond release of $230,948.52 and 77.85 acres of Category V lands that qualify for Phase 1 bond release of $186,061.50. The total bond requested for release is $417,010.02. Reclamation activities for the Area parcels were primarily completed in 2021 and 2022. The Area parcels quality for bond release as they have been backfilled and regraded to approved contour and passed the required verifications. The reclamation of the Phase 1 parcels occurred in 2021. The Phase 1 parcels qualify for bond release as they have had soil replaced, farming completed, and passed the required verifications.
Information regarding the mining operation, reclamation procedures and areas proposed for release may be reviewed in the Office of the Land Quality Division of the Department of Environmental Quality in Cheyenne and Lander, Wyoming. Written objections to the proposed bond release request must be received by the Administrator of the Land Quality Division, Department of Environmental Quality, 200 W. 17th Street, Suite 10, Cheyenne, WY 82002 before the close of business (December 16, 2022). Objections may also be submitted by the same deadline via the Land Quality Division?s electronic comment portal at http://lq.wyomingdeq.commentinput.com/. If written objections are filed, and a public hearing is requested, the Environmental Quality Council (Council) shall hold a public hearing within sixty (60) days after the final date for filing objections unless a different period is stipulated to by all parties. The Council shall publish notice of the time, date, and location of the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the locality of the proposed operation once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks immediately prior to the hearing. The hearing shall be conducted as a contested case in accordance with the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act (W.S. 16-3-101 through 16-3-115), with a right of judicial review as provided in that act. Without prejudice to the objector or applicant?s right to a hearing before the Council, the Administrator may hold an informal conference to resolve written objections after notification to all parties. The Administrator shall make a record of the conference unless waived by all parties, which shall be accessible to all parties. The Administrator shall furnish all parties of the conference with a written finding of the Division based on the conference, and the reasons for the finding.
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